Gregoire wincqz and hubert machepy



(No Model.)

G. WINCQZ- & H. MACHEPY. STONE SAWING MACHINE.

No 581,800. Patented May 4, 1897.

(was :0, PHOYd-LIYNQ. wasummm. u c.

Nrrnn STATES ATENI rricn GREGOIRE \VINCQZ AND IIUBERT MACIIEPY, OFSOIG'NIES, BELGIUM.

STONE-SAWING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 581,800, dated May 4,1897.

Application filed January 13, 1897. derial No. 619,070. (No model.)Patented in Belgium August 19, 1896,N0.123,08Oi

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, GREGOIRE WINcoz, a citizen of Belgium, and IIUBERTMAOHEPY, a citizen of France, residing at Soignies, Belgium, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Stone- Sawing Machines,(for which Letters Patent have been obtained in Belgium, No. 123,080,dated August 19, 1896;) and we do hereby declare the following to be afull, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to'lettersof reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

Machines for sawing stone and marble, to which this invention hasrelation, comprise as essential features a rectangular saw-framesuit-ably suspended, means for imparting to such frame a reciprocatingor oscillating motion in a horizontal plane, and-means for adjusting theframe in a vertical plane, said frame being usually arranged to movebetween and being guided by four uprights.

In stone-sawing machines it has heretofore been the practice tocounterbalance the sawframe in order to admit of the feeding of suchframe in proportion to the abrasion of the n1ateriali. a, the work ofthe saw or saws; yet in these constructions injury to the saws,especially when reciprocated very rapidly, whereby the frame is liableto be thrown up or made to jump at each extreme of the stroke of thepitman, is not always avoidable, nor is the automatic feed of the saw orsaws to their work at all times as regular as may be desired. Theseconditions we improve very materially by providing a cushioning devicefor the counterpoise in that we use a hydrostatic balance that is tosay, a counterpoisefreely suspended in a body of water contained in avessel the diameter of which relatively to the weight is such as toleave a narrow passage between the two, and whereby means are alsoprovided for lifting the saw or saws off and for lowering them again tothe work, whether the saws are at rest or in motion, by simply varyingthe volume of water in the vessel or tank, whereby the weight of theframe when varied by addition or removal of a saw or saws can also becompensated. This also is a great advantage and obviates the difficultyin moving a saw or a gang of such, while at rest, out of theirrespective kerfs or cuts before the material is cut through, should thisbecome necessary, a difficulty which is due to the settling about thesaw-blades of the abrading material used, as is well known. But that ourinvention may be fully understood we will describe the same in detail,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in whicl1- Figure 1 isa more or less schematic side elevation of so much of a stonesawingmachine as will be necessary to a full understanding of our invention,and Figs. 2 and 3 are explanatory geometrical views.

Referring to Fig. 1, (0 indicates the sawframe, which may, as usual,carry a gang of saw-blades. I) Z) indicate the suspension devices, ascables or the like, that run over guide sheaves or pulleys c and arewound upon a sheave or pulley (Z, to the shaft of which is secured adrum 6. On this drum (2 is wound a cable f, that passes over aguidepulley g and has attached to its free end a counterpoise 7L,immersed in a body of water 10, contained in a tank i, open at its upperend and provided with a waste-cock J near its lower end. Any suitablemeans may be provided for supplying water to the tank 1'- as, forinstance, a pipe 1), connected with a suitable water-supply and providedwith a stop-cock p.

In practice the difference in the weight of the saw-frame and its sawblade or blades and the weight of the counterpoise h is so chosen thatthe former will preponderate sufficiently to hold the saws to their workwith the required or desired pressure and feed down antomatically inproportion to the abrasion of the material operated upon.

The diameter of the vessel or tank t' relatively to the diameter of thecounterpoise h is so chosen as to leave a restricted space between thetwo, thereby restricting the flow of water from one side of thecounterpoise to the other, whereby said weight is cushioned in whateverdirection it is moving by the body of water above and below the same.

Inasmuch as the counterpoise is suspended freely in the body of water toin tank t', it will respond freely to all the movements of the saw-framein a vertical direction and permit the latter to feed down the requireddistance at each oscillation or in proportion to the abrasion or depthof out. It will also be readily seen that owing to the mobility of thecounterpoise it is susceptible of compensating the irregular movementsof the saw-frame due to the action thereon of the pitman that imparts tosuch frame its oscillating or to-and fro 'movements, so that theinjurious jumping or rising-up movements of the saw-frame areeffectually avoided, the water acting as a yielding or elastic cushionupon the counterpoise h, which is, so to speak, held between twocurrents of water flowing in opposite directions. This will be readilyunderstood when the fact is considered that the water above thecounterpoise tends constantly to move in a downward direction, therebyproducing a reflux in the body of water below said counterpoise inangupward direction. 011 theother hand by keeping the saws to their worktheir contact with the material sawed during each oscillation of thesawframe, instead of being limited, as has been the case heretofore, tothe mere contact of the tangent A, Fig. 2, is materially increased bythe prolongation of the contact-tangent, as shown at B C, Fig. 3.

If desired, the pulley 9 may be provided with a friction-brake 7c,operated by a counterpoise Z, or any other suitable form of brake.

When the stone has been sawed, the wastecock J is opened and the waterin tank I is allowed to flow out to shift the preponderance of weightfrom the frame a to the counterpois e h, which will descend, and therebylift the said frame above the stone, as will be readily understood.

WVe have deemed it unnecessary to show either a motor and connectionswith the sawframe or the guide-standards for said frame or the mainframing, as they may be of any usual or preferred construction and form110 part of our invention.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new therein, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination witha gang-saw frame, of a hydrostatic balancetherefor consisting of a water-tank, a counterpoise connected with saidframe and suspended freely in said body of water, the diameter of thetank relatively to the diameter of the oounterpoise being such as toleave a restricted space between them, and means for varying the volumeof water in the tank, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. The combination with a gang-saw frame, its suspension-cables,suitable guide-pullcys, a pulley (Z on which said cables are wound, anda pulley 0 fast on the shaft of pulley d, of a hydrostatic balanceconsisting of awatertank, a counterpoise freely suspended therein, thediameter of said tank and counterpoise being such as to leave arestricted space between the two, a cable connected with thecounterpoise and wound on pulley c, and means for varying the volume ofwater in the tank, substantially as and for the purpose set forth. I

In testimony whereof we afliX our signatures in presence of twowitnesses.

GREGOIRE XVINOQZ. HUBERT MAOHEPY. Witnesses:

ADOLPHE DECAsTIENNE, ARILLE DELVIENNE.

